Everything Happens For a Reason
by static-disturbed
Summary: This is just a short little fic taking place after the attacks. Focuses mainly on Merrill and the whole world and the Hess family starting to re-build


Title: Everything Happens for a Reason  
  
Author: Static-disturbed  
  
Summary: This is a fic for the amazing movie 'Signs' which I saw for the first time when my brother's friends lent it to me. Extremely good. Anyway I really like Merrill and wanted to dig deeper into he and Grahams past. Oh and I know the Merrill is really 29 (or that's how old Joaquin Phoenix is) but I make him 23 in this because...I want to so deal with it. And I might get a few things wrong because I only watched it twice and I borrowed it so I can't watch it again. I'll try my best. Oh and I don't know how old Mel Gibson is so I decide that Graham is 37 (is that really wrong? Mel Gibson looks older then that but oh well. It's my story.)  
  
Disclaimer: Rated PG- very mild language. I don't own the characters from 'Signs'. Some other obviously rich person does.  
  
  
  
  
  
First Part- Merrill's POV  
  
  
  
I can't believe it. I really can't. Aliens invaded Earth. It sounds like a movie... the nerds were right. Like Morgan said everything is different now. Everything we've ever thought to be true is a lie. I'm sitting on the back porch watching Bo. Graham took Morgan to the doctors. Bo is swinging. She's so innocent. She didn't need to see any of this. No one did. Her eyes are clouded over and I can tell she wants to cry. I should go comfort her. What am I supposed to comfort her with? Nothing is for sure anymore. I can't tell her that the aliens will never come back. How sure is anyone they won't? I mean...a few days ago everyone was so sure that aliens didn't even exist. And now... nothing is for sure anymore. Everything is different now.  
  
The house is in ruins almost. The furniture is broken and the windows. There's a dead alien on the living room floor. Yea, were going to need to do some serious clean up. My bats broken, the one thing I could be proud of is broken. Swing away Merrill. People always used to say that. Colleen started it. And soon all the people in the crowd would yell 'Swing away Merrill'. That was the problem I could never stop swinging. I wonder how bad it is in town. I don't want to see. I don't want to see the bodies of people I know littering the streets. The news said a lot of people died. Morgan almost died. We all almost died. I don't know what I would have done. Graham and the kids are the only family I have. I never knew what a real family was until I came here six months ago. And God it's all in ruins. Grahams house, the kids toys. Everything they've worked for is in ruins. All because of these God dammed aliens.  
  
  
  
Part 2- Grahams POV  
  
  
  
Doctor Handley is dead. There are Red Cross crews everywhere so one of their doctors looked at Morgan but...there are bodies...so many bodies. Half of our town is gone I think. I can only imagine how many people all over the world are dead. Thank God that were all safe. My whole family is safe and yes I'm thanking God. The moment Morgan's eyes opened I could feel it. God never left me...I just ignored him. I still may never understand why he makes things happen but I know that he is protecting us. Even those who died he's protecting. They're with him now. Morgan is sitting there looking straight ahead. He's so strong. Just like his mother.  
  
"Dad?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I don't hate you"  
  
"I know".  
  
When we pull up outside the house Bo runs over to the car. She looks frantic.  
  
"What's wrong?" I ask climbing out. She's crying  
  
"Uncle Merrill won't stop crying," she says in between sobs "He won't let me hug him". I follow her around the house and see him. He's curled up in a little ball in the corner of the porch, his shoulders are shaking and his head is buried between his knees. My little brother, there's nothing I can do but sink to me knees and hold him. For a second he pulls away but then he leans into me and sobs into my shirt. Big gulping sobs I didn't know my little brother was capable of. Bo soon joins in and then Morgan. Were just one big sobbing group hug.  
  
"It's okay," I whisper. Sometimes I forget that Merrill is only 23. He's done so much. He's traveled further then anyone in this town, played minor league ball. Not to mention all of the things he went through during his childhood. He's wounded individual...but he doesn't act like it. Sometimes I forget that Merrill needs me just as much as Bo and Morgan.  
  
We all decide to sleep in the barn tonight. Merrill's' room, there doesn't seem to be any real damage. Bo and Morgan are dead tired and they cuddle up in the bed and fall asleep. Merrill is sitting in his old raggedy chair staring out the window. Just staring.  
  
"You okay?" I ask. He doesn't answer. I stand behind him in silence and look out over the field with him. The circle is still there. That's a lot of damaged crops. Oh well.  
  
"Do you remember what happened the day mom died?" I'm at a loss for words. Merrill has never spoken about this; he leaves the room when anyone else does.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Tell me about it" he requests. I sigh and take a seat next to him  
  
"Me and dad were at he hospital in the waiting room. She had been in there for a long time. We tried asking the nurse's questions but they wouldn't answer us and they wouldn't let dad in. Finally a doctor came out. He took dad aside but of course I listened in. The doctor told him that mom wasn't going to make it through and there was a chance you wouldn't either. He told dad that she would have to push with all her strength and that she didn't have much. They wanted him to come and be with her in her last moments. He looked at the doctor and he said 'Are you telling me this is the last time I'll speak with my wife?' The doctor looked at him and said 'Yes. We haven't got much time'. I don't know what happened inside that room but...one of the nurses told me that the last words out of her mouth were 'Make sure he knows I love him' and like that she was gone" when I look back down there are tears running down his cheeks.  
  
"Everything happens for a reason Merrill. Mom died for a reason. Colleen died for a reason. The aliens came for a reason. You didn't make the big leagues for a reason. I lost my faith for a reason. It all connects Merrill and you don't have to be afraid because everything is in God's hands and he would never do anything unless it had a greater purpose". He looks up and smiles at me with wet eyes  
  
"I'm glad to have the old you back".  
  
  
  
Part 3- Morgan's POV- Eight Months since the attack  
  
  
  
I don't know if I should ask him. Dad said I should ask him. I will. After school I walk towards the gas station. Things have been getting better since the attacks. The house is almost back to normal. Dad's back at the church but not full time. He likes spending more time at home then he used to. Slowly the world is starting to rebuild. All of the battles that were going on between countries have ended and right now the whole planet is working together as one for the first time ever. School just started back up last week. Half of the school had to be rebuilt. A lot of places did. The aliens did a lot more damage then we thought. Bo still has nightmares but they say on the news that a lot of kids do. A lot of adults too, uncle Merrill has nightmares. But he always did so I don't know if they're from the aliens or not. Dad says not to ask. There are a lot of military people around now. They come to our field every other week and check for 'deformities'.  
  
"Hey there little guy" Arnold, the owner of the gas station, ruffles my hair. Arnold is really old. Really old but I never say that to him.  
  
"Hi Arnold is my uncle Merrill here?" I ask.  
  
"Yep inside takin a break. Go on in and see him". I open the old screen door and enter. The place is small. There's a counter with a cash register in the corner and a rack of chips and candy bars and magazines. Uncle Merrill is leaning on the counter reading something.  
  
"What's that?" I ask. I think I scared him.  
  
"Nothing...what are you doing?" he shoves the pamphlet into his back pocket  
  
"I need to ask you something"  
  
"Okay..." he sits there for a minute and looks at me "Is something wrong Morgan?"  
  
"No...you see at school they're starting up the baseball team again...I tried out and everything and I got first base"  
  
"That's great Morgan. What's the problem?"  
  
"Well you see... Mr. Stevenson the old coach he died...in the attacks and we can't play unless we get a new coach and...."  
  
"Morgan.... I can't..." he interrupts me and starts shaking his head.  
  
"Yes you can. If you can beat an alien to death then you can coach little league!" I yell. Okay I love my dad more then anything and I'm real proud of him but having a reverend, as a dad doesn't exactly make the other kids envious of me. But they do get jealous when I talk about my Uncle Merrill. The kids don't care that he didn't make it into the big leagues. No one from our town has ever done anything as exciting as play Minor League baseball or set a record. Or kill an alien with his record setting baseball bat.  
  
"Morgan there's more to it then that"  
  
"No there isn't, you're the best baseball player in this whole stupid town!"  
  
"I don't think that's true"  
  
"We need you. I need you. I always tell the kids how great my Uncle Merrill is...don't let me down" I beg. He looks at me and finally he grins  
  
"You tell all the kids I'm great?"  
  
"Yea. You're a hero in this town whether you like it or not...so will you do it?"  
  
"I guess...you better get home. You're dad's gonna get worried and I have to get back to work" he stands up and rubs my head.  
  
"Okay. Bye Uncle Merrill"  
  
  
  
Part 4- Merrill's POV  
  
  
  
"So I hear you're the newest coach of this Tigers" Graham states as I help him clear the dinner dishes that night.  
  
"Yea.... Morgan convinced me"  
  
"You're his idol" Graham says  
  
"No you're his idol," I argue. He shakes his head  
  
"No. I'm just the reverend. And I can live with that. He wants to be just like you" Graham says. I laugh  
  
"What? A loser?" I ask scoffing. I don't know why anyone would want to be like me. I'm washed up at 23 with nothing to show for my brief career but a broken bat covered in alien blood.  
  
"No a good man, who loves his family and would do anything for them" he walked away and I smiled. Things were beginning to look up for me.  
  
  
  
Part 5- Grahams POV  
  
  
  
It'll be good for Merrill to coach the team. He needs to get out more. Experience something besides this house and the gas station. Merrill came back a few weeks before Colleen died. It was a real surprise to see him standing on the porch with his duffle bag. He acted like nothing was wrong. He went outside and played ball with Morgan and Bo. He ate dinner and told us about all the big cities he had seen. Then later that night he confided in me that he'd been cut from the Minors. He would never play Pro ball. He always swung too early. He pretended it was no big deal but I could see he was hurting. Colleen was more upset then him I think though. She loved going to Merrill's games ever since he as paying little league. It's funny now but back then I was jealous of my little brother. She would sit there and she would just keep saying it 'Swing away Merrill'. I loved going to the games too. I loved seeing his eyes light up. It was the only thing that could make Merrill happy. Playing ball. And the funny thing is...no one ever taught him to play. I was basically married by the time he was getting serious into baseball and our father...he was never the same after mom died. He started drinking a lot. Yelling about everything. He wasn't the man I had grown up with. Merrill never got to see who our father really was. He died on Merrill's 19th birthday of liver cancer and the two never really got to know each other. Merrill always thought dad blamed him for mom's death. And sometimes I think he did too. You could see it in his eyes whenever he looked at his younger son. Almost anger sometimes. And that made Merrill the type of person he is today. He has self-confidence about nothing he does...except baseball. Sometimes I think about what my father said to the doctor the day my mother died. The same words I would repeat years later. Everything happens for a reason even if we don't understand why.  
  
  
  
Part 6- No POV  
  
  
  
"Come on Morgan!" Graham yelled cupping his hands over his mouth. His son stood nervously at bat. Graham could see Merrill standing off near the dug out with his eyes closed. Praying. He said a quick Amen and opened them and scanned the field. It was all up to Morgan. The game was tied. He need to hit a homer to win the game. The whole stand was still as the first pitch was thrown. Strike one. Another pitch. Strike two. Everyone was on edge. Especially Merrill who looked ready to jump up in the air any minute. Right before the last pitch was thrown two brothers murmured the same words  
  
"Swing away Morgan". The last pitch was thrown. Everything was a blur of madness as the crack of wood filled the air and the crowd went wild. Morgan ran as fast as his small feet would carry him. Around the bases. People cheered his name as the ball went over the fence. Suddenly he knew what his uncle Merrill must have felt the day he set that record. Sure this was no record but he had won the game for the team. He wasn't Reverend Hess's son, or Merrill's nephew or the boy with asthma. He Morgan Hess was a hero, if only for today it felt amazing. And as the crowds cheered everything else was forgotten. The alien invasion was in the back of their minds just an unpleasant memory for the moment. Right now they were doing something as simple as watching a little league baseball game. Witnessing magic. People would talk about this all season. The day Morgan Hess won the season opener for the Tigers on a soft spring day in Bucks County. The day Merrill Hess threw away that pamphlet and stopped going by the Army recruiting station. Yes, the world was rebuilding and it was starting with the Hess family.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Did you like this? I'm waiting to upload it cause the sites being all screwy. I love this movie and I'll probably write more stories for it mainly focusing on Merrill cause he's amazing. Joaquin Phoenix is so hot and he's amazingly talented. And I know people are probably gonna get pissed w/ me cause I'm supposed to be working on 'Lonely No More' (my Buffy fic) but sorry I need a tiny break from that fic for a few days. Any who please give me feedback if you liked it 


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